Electronic devices that are worn by a pet and deliver electrical shocks or other stimulation to train the pet to remain within an established area are well known. There are two primary types of pet restraint systems being sold today. One type of system utilizes perimeter control and includes a wire that emits a weak radio signal to form an electronic perimeter. The pet wears a collar with battery powered electrodes. When the pet attempts to cross the perimeter, it hears an audible alarm and receives an electric shock. Pets are quickly trained to stay within the perimeter to avoid the shock. Some systems include portable transmitting devices that can be positioned within a house or yard to discourage the pet from approaching other forbidden zones.
Systems that utilize perimeter control have a number of deficiencies. For example, installation of the perimeter wire is expensive and often requires cutting through hard surfaces that cross the perimeter, such as driveways. The perimeter is also subject to failure during prolonged power outages or when the wire is broken. Additionally, if the pet is sufficiently enticed to leave the perimeter (by another animal or a perceived threat), the electrical shocks will stop a short distance beyond the perimeter. Not only is the pet then free to roam, but it is punished if it wants to reenter by having to again endure the shock when it tries to cross the perimeter to regain entry. Accordingly, once the pet is out, the pet will stay out. Another disadvantage of these systems is that the shocks and warning sounds are generally all or nothing, with no intermediate levels. The system also does not track the location of the pet, so there is no way to know where the pet is, whether inside or outside of the perimeter, except by calling the pet and/or visually locating it. Further, other than activating an alarm when the perimeter wire is broken, there is no alarm to alert the owner that the system is not operating to restrain the pet, nor is there any alarm to alert owner that the pet is at large. Finally, the perimeter wire is a large antenna that attracts static charge (e.g., from electrical storms), thereby presenting a hazard to other electronics or even to a house itself.
The second type of system is far less expensive and consists of a transmitter that sets up a radial control area. As long as the pet stays within the area of the transmitter, it receives no shock. This system has one big advantage: if the pet is outside the control area, it is shocked until it returns, thereby lessening the possibility that the pet will roam. This system, however, shares some of the disadvantages of the perimeter control system, and has two major additional drawbacks. For example, if the transmitter fails, the pet is continually shocked. Also, the perimeter is radial and has little to do with actual boundaries, which makes it difficult for the pet to roam the entire yard and/or to learn and obey the actual boundary locations of the property. Like the perimeter control system, the shock and alarm are all or nothing, the system does not track the pet's location, and there is no alarm to alert owner that the system may have failed.
Accordingly, there is a need for an improved system for tracking and manipulating the location of an animal, such as a pet.